Travel tips to Sydney, Australia: Flying Non-Rev Overseas (Mike Summers) - February 2011
To fly non-rev anywhere overseas, you need to do the following a month to a week before you leave.
First decide where you want to go.
Then go to the ID90 system ( https://ifc.id90.com/ ) and Log-in.
Once you are in ID90, click on the Help Menu and select Zonal Interline Agreements.
Next, see what airlines we have agreements with. For zonal agreements - minimum employment time is 6 months before you can request. Also check to see who is eligible with that airline. Most airlines only allow spouse/domestic partner, dependent children, and parents to fly.
Zonal agreements change. As of this date that I'm typing this, we no longer have agreements with AerLingus, British Air, or LotPolish. We recently added agreements with American and Virgin American.
Now that you know which airlines we have an agreement with by looking at ID90, you want to determine which airlines fly the route that you want.
So, go to Passrider.com ( www.passrider.com ) or Expedia or Travelocity to determine which airline will fly your desired route. When I was looking at London, I came up with four choices (but there are more): London on United by way of Washington, DC (around $350 rt); London on US Air by way of Philadelphia (around $300 rt); London on Virgin Atlantic by way of Boston (around $340 rt); and London on American by way of Boston (around $330 rt). There's many other routes, but remember a Zonal fair takes into acount mileage flown. So, it's better to non-rev on Frontier or JetBlue to Washington, Philadelphia, or Boston and then pay the Zonal (ZED) fare from 'jump-off cities' along the east coast. I also noticed that American has three daily flights to London from Boston; US Air has one flight daily from Philadelphia; Virgin Atlantic has one flight daily from Boston, and United has three flights daily from Washington Dulles (IAD). So, you might want to consider how many flights daily from a particular 'jump-off' in case you get bumped from a flight.
When you find a route that is flown by an airline with which we have an agreement, send an email to f9pass@flyfrontier.com with the following information:
1) Your name; 2) Your employee number; 3) The names of the people you want to buy passes for (check agreements to see who is eligible to fly; 4) The city pairs (including any connecting points); In this case it would simply be IAD (Washington Dulles) - LHR (London Heathrow) and LHR - IAD; You could also do the following on United: DEN to IAD, IAD - LHR, LHR - IAD, and IAD - DEN, but it would cost more because of the rt from DEN to IAD; 5) Lastly, the airline you want to use (make sure we have an agreement).
The Pass Bureau will price it for you and let you know the cost of the Zonal Passes by email . You then have three options: Option 1) take the record that they send you by email to an F9 ticket counter. You can purchase the pass there using a credit/debit card. They will print the pass on F9 ticket stock. Only the employee with their badge can purchase the pass. Option 2) Go to the F9 Pass Bureau at Frontier's Main Office at 7001 Tower Road. Option 3) Purchase from F9 Pass Bureau by phone (720-374-4616) with your credit card number to pay for the pass and Fed Ex charges to deliver the ticket for you. No US Mail and expect a minimum Fed EX cahrge of $14.00 for three business days.
Once the Pass Bureau quotes you a price by email, the price is valid for seven calendar days. If tickets are not purchased by the end of the seven days, which is highlighted in the email, the passes must be repriced due to changes in international taxes and fluctuations in exchange rates.
The tickets you receive are paper tickets. They are open and specific dates and flight numbers do not appear on the tickets. They are valid for travel up to 90 days from the date of issue for the Airline and the City Pairs that appear on the ticket. You can request a refund or exchange for any unused coupon within a year from the date of issue.
Next, you need to list with the airline. Most have a non-revenue number. The Pass Bureau can provide it. When you list, know the dates, times, and flight numbers. I simply go to the airline website, and type in the date and city where I'm going. Then look at flight numbers. Write down a few so that when you call to list, they can tell you how open a flight is for your date.
Lastly, ask about that airline's dress code policy for non-revenue travel. It helps you avoid surprises at a gate or couinter.
Flying Non-Rev Overseas (Mike Summers) - February 2011
To fly non-rev anywhere overseas, you need to do the following a month to a week before you leave.
First decide where you want to go.
Then go to the ID90 system ( https://ifc.id90.com/ ) and Log-in.
Once you are in ID90, click on the Help Menu and select Zonal Interline Agreements.
Next, see what airlines we have agreements with. For zonal agreements - minimum employment time is 6 months before you can request. Also check to see who is eligible with that airline. Most airlines only allow spouse/domestic partner, dependent children, and parents to fly.
Zonal agreements change. As of this date that I'm typing this, we no longer have agreements with AerLingus, British Air, or LotPolish. We recently added agreements with American and Virgin American.
Now that you know which airlines we have an agreement with by looking at ID90, you want to determine which airlines fly the route that you want.
So, go to Passrider.com ( www.passrider.com ) or Expedia or Travelocity to determine which airline will fly your desired route. When I was looking at London, I came up with four choices (but there are more): London on United by way of Washington, DC (around $350 rt); London on US Air by way of Philadelphia (around $300 rt); London on Virgin Atlantic by way of Boston (around $340 rt); and London on American by way of Boston (around $330 rt). There's many other routes, but remember a Zonal fair takes into acount mileage flown. So, it's better to non-rev on Frontier or JetBlue to Washington, Philadelphia, or Boston and then pay the Zonal (ZED) fare from 'jump-off cities' along the east coast. I also noticed that American has three daily flights to London from Boston; US Air has one flight daily from Philadelphia; Virgin Atlantic has one flight daily from Boston, and United has three flights daily from Washington Dulles (IAD). So, you might want to consider how many flights daily from a particular 'jump-off' in case you get bumped from a flight.
When you find a route that is flown by an airline with which we have an agreement, send an email to f9pass@flyfrontier.com with the following information:
1) Your name; 2) Your employee number; 3) The names of the people you want to buy passes for (check agreements to see who is eligible to fly; 4) The city pairs (including any connecting points); In this case it would simply be IAD (Washington Dulles) - LHR (London Heathrow) and LHR - IAD; You could also do the following on United: DEN to IAD, IAD - LHR, LHR - IAD, and IAD - DEN, but it would cost more because of the rt from DEN to IAD; 5) Lastly, the airline you want to use (make sure we have an agreement).
The Pass Bureau will price it for you and let you know the cost of the Zonal Passes by email . You then have three options: Option 1) take the record that they send you by email to an F9 ticket counter. You can purchase the pass there using a credit/debit card. They will print the pass on F9 ticket stock. Only the employee with their badge can purchase the pass. Option 2) Go to the F9 Pass Bureau at Frontier's Main Office at 7001 Tower Road. Option 3) Purchase from F9 Pass Bureau by phone (720-374-4616) with your credit card number to pay for the pass and Fed Ex charges to deliver the ticket for you. No US Mail and expect a minimum Fed EX cahrge of $14.00 for three business days.
Once the Pass Bureau quotes you a price by email, the price is valid for seven calendar days. If tickets are not purchased by the end of the seven days, which is highlighted in the email, the passes must be repriced due to changes in international taxes and fluctuations in exchange rates.
The tickets you receive are paper tickets. They are open and specific dates and flight numbers do not appear on the tickets. They are valid for travel up to 90 days from the date of issue for the Airline and the City Pairs that appear on the ticket. You can request a refund or exchange for any unused coupon within a year from the date of issue.
Next, you need to list with the airline. Most have a non-revenue number. The Pass Bureau can provide it. When you list, know the dates, times, and flight numbers. I simply go to the airline website, and type in the date and city where I'm going. Then look at flight numbers. Write down a few so that when you call to list, they can tell you how open a flight is for your date.
Lastly, ask about that airline's dress code policy for non-revenue travel. It helps you avoid surprises at a gate or couinter.
I hope that this has helped!
Enjoy!
Mike Summers